Category Archives: Vlog

I’ve been asked a few times about powerful supermassive black holes, and one of my old articles has suddenly become popular again, getting a thousand views in June, so I think we are in a new zeitgeist of black hole interests. So, I’ve prepared a

This documentary explores the tumultuous lives of galaxies with a focus on galaxy collision: the key mechanism in galaxy evolution. Using publicly available images and bespoke animations, we look at how humans began exploring what lies beyond the Milky Way, how the Universe came to

A cool thing to do if you have leftover dry ice is to snuff out candles using just carbon dioxide. You put dry ice in a jar and let it sublimate. The carbon dioxide will remain in the jug, as the density of CO2 is

Thermodynamics is a funny area of physics, where different physical quantities are profoundly connected. In this video we look at how reducing the pressure allows you to reduce the boiling point of water.

In this vlog, I talk about Prof. Payne-Gaposchkin, one the most important astronomers of the 20th Century. Thanks to her we know that stars are not made by the same elements as the Earth, and that Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe.

Every few months, I see articles about Betelgeuse, the right shoulder in the constellation of Orion, ready to go supernova. The articles vary from the sensational to the apocalyptic and I can understand why it is a fascinating subject. A supernova in our galactic backyard.

I was asked by Larry, one of my students, about what would be the best place in the solar system to destroy the One Ring. Since the 25th of March is the anniversary of its destruction and the fall of Sauron I thought I’d dedicate this vlog to answering the question as seriously and as accurately as possible.